PACIFIC COAST FISHERIES. 251 
The sturgeon fishery begins immediately at the close of the salmon 
fishery; that is, about the middle of August or the first of September, 
and is followed to the opening of the salmon season in the following 
April. Sturgeon are found in the river throughout the year, but are 
most abundant during the run of sardines, in July and August, and 
the run of smelt in January and February, the sturgeon feeding to a 
considerable extent on these fish. The spawning season appears to be 
in November and later, thus contrasting strongly with the sturgeon of 
the Atlantic Coast. Mature roe, suitable for the preparation of caviar, 
is not found in quantities before November. With the exception of 
the sturgeon taken incidentally in the salmon nets, which are sold for 
local use, the fish is neglected during the summer months. 
The average gross weight of the sturgeon caught is 150 pounds, the 
market fish ranging from 40 to 500 pounds. Some fish of relatively 
small size are caught, and occasionally very large ones are taken. In 
1891 a sturgeon taken near Kalama weighed 848 pounds, and one taken 
off Oak Point in 1892 weighed 800 pounds. 
Fishing is prosecuted from the mouth of the river as far up as the 
Cascades, a few fish being taken above the latter point; but the bulk 
of the catch is obtained between Astoria and Kalama, a distance of 
60 miles. During the early part of the season fishing is done nearer the 
mouth of the river. The fishermen meet the fish as they come into the 
stream and move along with them. 
With the exception of a few gill nets employed in the lower river 
the fishing is carried on exclusively with set lines. Each line is pro- 
vided with 200 to 400 hooks, the hooks being 1 foot apart, and 5 to 8 
lines constituting the complement of each fishing boat. When the 
fishing was first inaugurated lampreys were used for bait, but in the 
following year the Chinese method of using baitless hooks was found 
successful and has since been universally practiced. The hooks differ 
from those used by the Chinese, however, in being barbed, but resem- 
ble them in being ground to a needle-like point. The lines, as a rule, 
are anchored across the bed of the river, in some cases diagonally, 
and also in the bays formed by the expansion of the river. At inter- 
vals of 7 feet a junk bottle or block of wood is fastened to the line to 
buoy it up and maintain it in position about 4 inches from the bottom. 
The fishermen closely study the movements and habits of the sturgeon 
and set their lines on the grounds most frequented. The fish swim- 
ming along the bottom of the stream in search of food, as is their 
habit, must necessarily cross the set lines, and are almost certain to be 
snagged by one or more of the sharp-pointed hooks. In attempting to 
free themselves more hooks are apt to be caught in their body and they 
are held fast. Occasionally fish are taken showing healed-up scars, 
evidence of previous capture and escape. The lines are tended on the 
Slack tide and are usually visited only once in twenty-four hours. 
In 1892 the business of buying, packing, and shipping sturgeon 
was carried on by two firms located at Portland, Oreg., one at Kal- 
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